


be a burning star if it takes all night

by heavyskeleton



Series: WinterVerse [2]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Age Regression, Hopeful, M/M, Mental Health Issues, i think, this is happier than the last part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28819032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavyskeleton/pseuds/heavyskeleton
Summary: They learnt the hard way that sometimes winter hits relentlessly before the summer can melt the ice.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Series: WinterVerse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112636
Kudos: 5





	be a burning star if it takes all night

**Author's Note:**

> ive been going through it recently so i thought i'd add a second, more hopeful part to this series. 
> 
> there are some potential triggers - the word 'daddy' is mentioned once within narration. there are a few mentions of sex/sexual interactions but no smut. there is also some brief mentions of predatory behaviour within the narration but not to or by either of the characters. i think thats it, other than mentions of mental illness 
> 
> as always not proof read because im lazy and an idiot 
> 
> again this is from my own experiences 
> 
> hope u hate it ! xo

“Gee?” 

Gerard gently kicks the door closed behind himself before looking over to his lover, still lazing in bed, wrapped in a ludicrous amount of blankets. The loving gaze cast his way surely raised the temperature a few degrees. 

“Hey pumpkin. D’you want some toast? There’s enough for both of us if you promise not to steal mine again.” He teased, though he placed the plate on Frank’s bedside table anyway. 

Frank huffed as Gerard ruffled his hair and moved away to shuffle around the room, doing things not nearly as important as cuddling Frank, who feels dangerously close to throwing a tantrum if Gerard doesn’t share his body heat  _ right the fuck now.  _

“It’s not my fault you never make enough for me.” Frank grumbled, though he smiled warmly and Gerard climbed on the bed next to him and placed a burning kiss to his temple. 

The pair sat in almost silence as they ate their breakfast (Gerard didn’t even say anything when Frank started nibbling on his after finishing his own), their few words melting rapidly in the just-too-hot air, making room for more whispered confessions. 

Frank knew that outside of their bubble, things needed to be done - the laundry pile grew more and more every day that Gerard ‘forgot’ to do it, and the afternoon appointment with Dr. Starmer blazed heavily in his mind, but his fantasies of staying in bed, sweating under the blankets all day didn’t evaporate. 

Gerard’s fingers carding gently through his hair, rubbing at his scalp, combined with quiet whispers sent the younger man slipping slowly at first into a much softer, blurrier mindset, before quickly spiraling into a younger understanding. Frank didn’t really know what Gerard was saying, and was rapidly becoming too far gone to hold onto the wisps of the conversation, blinking heavily and much slower than normal. 

  
  


*

It was always obvious to Gerard when Frank’s regression began. The physical signs were immediate - the tension in his lover’s shoulders would begin to melt away, his eyes opening wider and closing slower. The biggest physical sign was usually shifting and fidgeting; Frank became very energetic in his younger mind, always shifting from foot to foot and playing with his own (or Gerard’s fingers). Emotionally, there were some big signs too, though these took a little longer to pick up on. Frank’s whole speech patterns changed as he regressed, words becoming drawn out and lazy, as though concentrating on pronunciation was too difficult. The younger man would begin to stutter nervously at times, and almost always began to cling to Gerard’s side, too small to understand the concept of independence or personal space. 

And it had been hard for Gerard, at first. The discomfort was unavoidable really, and for months Gerard would lie awake at night considering his morals and torturing himself for still being attracted to Frank. He had felt dirty and wrong for thinking Frank looked adorable as he asked his boyfriend to peel his orange for him because he wasn’t strong enough. The power dynamic tripped him up and he stressed over his position over Frank - wearing himself out so much that he struggled to look after his lover as he had promised. 

They learnt the hard way that sometimes winter hits relentlessly before the summer can melt the ice. And Frank wasn’t willing to watch Gerard burn himself over his needs, which caused him to attempt to repress his nature. Rock bottom hit them fast and blistering, volcanic arguments spilling scalding lava over the very foundations of everything they had worked for. Eventually, Frank erupted, breaking down in a session with Dr. Starmer, who had been frustratingly patient and cool as hot ash began to rain down in Frank’s mind. 

Starmer immediately became involved with both Frank and Gerard, holding individual sessions as well as couples sessions to resolve any escalating problems and ice out any fires. The sessions helped Gerard to understand that he wasn’t attracted to Frank’s young mind, and his willingness to help his lover in his young state was purely out of love for Frank in his adult state. Gerard was much more comfortable when the couple could have an open conversation about boundaries and were able to understand each other. 

Boundaries were set involving how much help Frank needed, and exactly what kind of help he needed to avoid any upsets or worries about over/underplaying his needs. They had also discussed what to call each other - Frank had immediately wrinkled his nose at ‘daddy’ as he felt the name was too synonymous with sex (Gerard breathed a sigh of relief), though he didn’t mind nicknames like ‘babyboy’ or ‘little one’. Gerard had expressed that as much as he wanted to keep their ‘little life’ separate from their ‘big life’, he didn’t mind using names like ‘Frankie’ and ‘Gee’ to allow for some normalcy. Officially, Gerard was Frank’s caregiver, and Frank always called him Gee within little space, though this nickname was still used in their big life, and mirroring that, Gerard called him Frankie.

The most important thing to both men was that Frank’s littlespace was never sexual. Gerard was appalled at the thought of someone finding the innocent nature of Frank’s regression sexually attractive, and always kept sexual jokes or comments away from his lover during his littlespace. It was a huge relief to Frank, who had spent a long time researching age regression and was heartbroken to find such a large community of sexual regressors as his personal experience of regression was an escape from sexual trauma and predatory behaviour. 

In the end, the couple’s opinions and views mirrored each other in almost every way involving their little life, and they learnt to mould around each other in the new aspect of their lives, becoming each other's sunset and sunrise. 

*

It had snowed throughout the night, and when Frank eventually rolled out of bed (still trailing the blankets, and a few dogs, behind him) the backyard glistened brightly. He watched the dogs kicking up the fresh powder and chasing each other from the kitchen window to the back fence and back again. 

It had taken a lot of effort to come back to big space today - Gerard had allowed him a deep nap, though it was a short one as Frank needed to wake up and come back into his big mind in time for their appointment that afternoon, and the consequence was a heavy wave of exhaustion and a relentless chill in his bones. The feeling of emptiness always hit aggressively after a regression, and Frank was often frustrated with how hopeless it made him feel. 

But then Gerard would look at him, all love in his eyes and warmth in his smile, and things would feel just a little bit better. His aching prayers had become desperate attempts to show his appreciation for the mercury. Despite it’s frost, he felt beholden to the winter for allowing him such comfort - for sending him his own star. Gerard was at the very center of his solar system, a sun for him to orbit. 

Frank put on an extra layer before leaving the house that day.

**Author's Note:**

> "it takes a mess to love a wreck, but what does that matter anymore?"


End file.
